Norton AntiVirus Review 2018

You can totally count on its security protection and be at peace. Above all it is very easy to use for beginners. However, its pricing is not the best and you tend to miss out on some features but overall Norton is highly recommended.

Norton Security aims to fight and protect your devices from malware. It has been around for more than 25 years, dating back to 1991 when Symantec Corporation’s Norton Group released its first version for PC. With the virtual world taking over and threats increasing by the day, Norton security claims to help resist any risk to your PC, Mac, Smartphone and tablet with its five-layer protection and award-winning security.

Costs and What’s Covered

Norton Virus Protection allows you to choose between four plans depending on your needs. The four program services offered by Norton use essentially the same software but differ mainly in pricing, features, and devices being covered them. All the prices mentioned are only for the first year of subscription and if we are honest, the features are not very cost efficient.

Norton AntiVirus Basic

Priced currently at $19.99, Norton Basic will only protect a single PC against viruses and other online threats. The lack of firewall, customer support, money back guarantee, web portal and back up makes you reconsider your choice.

Norton Security Standard

With the current cost of $29.99, Norton Standard provides protection against a choice between 1 PC, Mac or 1 mobile device. Apart from its excellent security, it also offers an additional firewall for your home network, full refund in case of failure to protect and 24/7 customer support. However, as in the Basic, the web portal, backup, and additional storage will still be missing.

Norton Security Deluxe

Taking itself a step ahead, Norton Deluxe comes with a cost of $39.99 and can cover up to 5 PCs, Macs, smartphones or tablets. Unlike the previous two, it also comes with a web portal account to help you manage all the connected devices.

Norton Security Premium

As the name suggests, it offers additional premium services including safety options for your family and kids while they explore the online world, automatic backup of photos and other important data on your Windows PC and the best part being 25GB of storage on your PC. All this for $49.99.

Norton AntiVirus Protection

Norton Internet Security provides excellent protection from not only viruses but other online scams such as key loggers and tracking cookies as well. If we were to give you a basic understanding of how it works, it basically has its own database of known threats and malware against which software is checked and subsequently removed before they can damage your device in any way.

In case of unknown malware, their activity is closely monitored and scrutinized. Having said that, there are also some downsides involved that we noticed. The first one being false alarms which can be pretty annoying if it ends up blocking an important file that you need to access. Moreover, it lacks some useful features that you can find in other antivirus software such as USB drive protection, webcam protection, secured online banking and shopping and protection of important files in case of ransomware.

Test Results

If Norton detects any suspicious behaviour, it is immediately reported to Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response Lab for examination (SONAR) where it is recognized in the form of a signature and distributed to all of Norton users worldwide.

Other than that, it has been closely examined by other laboratories such as AV-Test and AV-Comparatives and found to be outstanding at detecting and removing both known and unknown malware hence proving it trustworthy. While AV-Test’s 2017 reports established that Norton successfully detected 100% of test scams, it also confirmed the fact that false alarms were found to be more than usual. Moreover, according to SE Labs Home Anti-Malware Protection report, Norton bagged 100% accuracy rating.

Security and Privacy Features

If you take a look at the four security plans provided by Norton namely Norton Antivirus Basic, Norton Security Standard, Norton Security Deluxe and Norton Security Premium, you will notice that there are privacy features added as you go higher up the level.

Two-Way Firewall

It comes with a versatile and highly configurable two-way firewall for Windows with the exception of trusted and secure network printing and data transfers.

Backup Plan

Priciest of all, Norton Security Premium provides you with 25GB of encrypted space for you to backup your most significant and precious files. This space can also be altered later according to your needs.

Parental Control

This feature, which is only accessible through the Premium plan, helps you keep your family’s privacy intact and limit your children’s online access. The downside to this feature is that it is only available on windows and you cannot make use of these features on Mac, iOS and Android devices.

Password Manager

Apart from these tools, another great feature is the password manager that lets you log in to all your online accounts through Norton download and hence anyone else trying to hack your accounts will never be able to bypass the manager tool’s password.

Web Portal

Norton Security Deluxe Premium comes with a web portal that lets you manage all the devices connected to it.

Norton Core

Priced at $249.99, Norton Security has recently introduced a powerful wireless WiFi router to protect all the devices connected to it and provide defense against viruses and other hacks.

Bootable Recovery Tool

This feature needs to be downloaded separately to initiate an extensive scan in a reliable Linux environment mostly for DVDs and other drives with the exception of those systems which have enabled Microsoft Secure Boot.

Anti-Phishing Filter

This feature detects and blocks scam contained in emails and websites that tends to deceive users by asking for their personal information and later exploiting it.

Other features such as file shredder and file encryption are lacking even in the most premium security plan.

Performance and System Impact

One of the main concerns with antivirus softwares is whether or not it will slow your system with a considerable percentage. Symantec’s Norton displayed some pretty impressive results after extensive tests were run to evaluate system impact. Testers concluded that there was no significant lagging or slowing down of most devices while they surfed the web, played online games and videos and downloaded programs.

Installation and Support

The installation and setup are easy where you can simply download the software from Norton’s website. The first step involves agreeing to its license and policy. In the next, you will need to create an account and enter basic information. It will automatically renew your plan when the subscription expires and that is not entirely advantageous as you may or may not want to continue using their services. So, it is better if you uncheck it in the settings option.

As for the customer support, Norton Security Standard and onwards comes with 24/7 customer service and professional help via phone calls, emails and live chat. The availability of video tutorials makes things easier and you can also opt for customized support depending on the products you have subscribed to. You will be in touch However, this feature is not for Norton Antivirus Basic, so in that case you will not have any help in case of crisis.

User Interface

The interface is user-friendly and highly organized, allowing beginners to proceed without any complications or difficulty. The interface has not changed much over the years. A large green checkmark ensures the user that their system is well protected. A red X mark notifies users of alarming activity and subsequently necessary action should be taken. There are also options that help you schedule daily, weekly or monthly scans.

Final Thoughts

Its shielding abilities against viruses and malware can be completely trusted, but be prepared to pay a heavy amount in order to avail the essential features and even with that amount you may still miss out on some of your desired features.